Monday, January 25, 2010

Success!

Woohoo! Our night away went well! Very well, in fact. Jacob had fun, Grandma and Grandpa had fun, and Mommy and Daddy had fun. It was a win-win-win for everyone! We got quality time alone, my parents got to do the grandparent thing, and Jacob came out of it unscathed. He even slept pretty well last night and was pretty good this morning at daycare when I dropped him off. He was a little more hesitant than usual at first, but once his eye caught something that interested him, he was off...and one of the teachers actually brought him back over to me to say an official good-bye. He had been in a great mood all morning, actually, so that was nice as well. Of course, last night's dinner once we were home was a bit of a battle for some reason, but it was nice to be home again with him, regardless.

The rest of the Toronto trip was nice. We had a pretty low key night out after the lacrosse game. We had planned to make a couple stops, but by 10:30 or so we were tired and unwilling to pay for a cab, not to mention that at least one of the people we were meeting up with was so disgusted by the game that he didn't even go out. So we ended up just walking around the corner to a sports bar and ordering up a banana split, believe it or not. And it was really, really good. It hit the spot perfectly. We got a great, uninterrupted night's sleep on a very luxurious bed (king size, fluffy duvets and pillows...ahhhh) and then headed off to IKEA. Most of what I was looking for was for Jacob, though we were keeping an eye out for any cool things that might work in our new house (oh, to have $179 to blow on this...but we know better). In the end we got out pretty cheap, with just a couple sets of silverware for Jacob and a roll of paper. I'd been on a hunt for new silverware for Jacob recently. We have a ton of baby spoons, obviously, but we only have three forks. Two are plastic take-and-toss ones that aren't sharp enough to really spear most foods. The other is a good Gerber one with a fat, non-slip grip. That one works better, but the rounded tines on the end sometimes do more blocking than spearing. One of the sets I bought yesterday was cheaper and had pretty good tines and colorful plastic handles. The other set cost a little more (ummm...still only $5, cheaper than anything comparable that I've found) and is all metal. I'd been on the hunt for a set like this because Jacob is sort of obsessed with our silverware. He'd much rather eat off our forks than his own. However, my parents have a couple all-metal sets of kid cutlery at their house, and Jacob loves them. The only comparable set I'd seen was $20 in a catalog we get. Everything at the baby stores is at least partly plastic and more expensive than either set from IKEA. And while he'll probably love a set with his favorite characters on it some day, right now I need every trick in the book to get him to eat. So, since both sets were cheaper than anything I was finding at home, I figured I'd give them both a shot. As for the roll of paper, it was a $5 roll of paper that's generally meant to be used with IKEA's kids easel or a tabletop roll holder, but I figure that at this point I'm content to roll it out on the floor or rip off a piece and let Jacob go to town. Someday I may go back and get the easel, but at least not until we're in the new house and have a good spot for it.

We got back to my parents mid-afternoon, and Jacob got a big smile on his face when he saw us. He was hesitant to leave, however, but did do pretty well on the drive home considering he was already too well rested to nap. As I said, dinner was a little on the frustrating side and my tiredness probably wasn't helping my patience either. Around 8pm Jacob started getting a little cranky and I decided it was time for bed. I was practically falling asleep watching him play, so I figured I better get him in bed before he took over the house around his sleeping mother. But apparently that was just in time, because by the time I got him in his PJs and read him his stories, he was starting to zone out, and by the time I rocked him for a minute or two and put him in his crib, he was out. Apparently the busy weekend tired him out too! I myself had just enough energy to unpack, do Jacob's laundry, and read the weekend's papers while watching the end of the Saints-Vikings game before I was off to bed myself. And yes, morning came all too soon! But fortunately Jacob only woke up once briefly this morning, right about when my alarm was going to go off. Luckily Craig got up and calmed him down, but it was still tough getting out of bed and going back off to work!

As I mentioned in my last post, I finally got a couple new pictures of Jacob. We were playing a bit on Friday night and he was in a good mood so I grabbed the camera to see what I could get. So here he is playing with his constant companion, his mini hockey stick...

And here's just a cute profile shot that I liked...

And finally, here's a video of Jacob courtesy of my parents showing Jacob playing hockey in their kitchen. In case you're wondering, his "puck" is the bottom of a can koozie. The one cabinet he's allowed to play in there has the can koozies in it, and he likes taking them out and stacking them. Apparently the bottom came out of one and of course it became a puck!

I'll hopefully have another video tomorrow of another fun activity during his weekend with the grandparents...but this is enough fun for one day!